LGIM appoints Paul So as head of index funds for Asia-Pacific

Legal & General Investment Management (LGIM) has appointed Paul So as head of index funds, Asia Pacific.

Based in Hong Kong, LGIM’s Asia Pacific regional headquarters, So will have a dual reporting line to Ali Toutounchi, global head of index funds, and Alan Flynn, head of LGIM Asia Pacific.

Starting in May 2014, in this newly created role, So will build a team of index portfolio managers and traders in the region.

So has spent the past ten years of his 15-year asset management career managing index funds. He joins LGIM from Enhanced Investment Products, where he was head of beta products for four years. Prior to this he was a director within the portfolio management group at Blackrock, assuming the responsibilities he previously held at Barclays Global Investors (BGI) as head of portfolio management Asia ex-Japan, before the merger of the two firms in 2009. Earlier, So was responsible for transition management and equity index products at BGI in Canada before relocating to Hong Kong in 2007. He started his career as an analyst at Mercer Investment Consulting.

Flynn says: “Paul brings valuable experience of both managing assets and building a portfolio management team in Asia and we are delighted to welcome him to the team. His appointment is an important development for our Asia Pacific business as we build our asset management capability in Hong Kong to meet the needs of the growing institutional appetite for cost effective index and alternative beta solutions.”

So says: “I am excited to join LGIM, a world leader in index funds that has gained a reputation for excellence in its product, performance, process transparency and client experience. These are real differentiators in a region where demand for beta products is increasing rapidly. LGIM’s expertise in alternative beta will be especially attractive to institutional investors across the region.”